Car wheel grinding machine



Feb. 27, 1934. c. H. NORTON Err Al. 1,948,856

CAR WHEEL GRINDING MACHINE Filed June 7, 1952 JL. t? Qwwhma CHARLEaA/oRTo/v Q CARL G. FLYGA RE WWA/Essa@ gg. l m? @www QQWC? om PatentedFeb. 27, 1934 UNITE-D STATES CAR WHEEL GRINDING MACHINE Charles H.Norton, Plainville, Conn., and Carl G. Flygare, Worcester, Mass.,assignors to Norton Company, Worcester, Mass.,

Massachusetts a corporation of Application June 7, 1932. Serial No.615,804

4 Claims.

This invention relates to grinding machines, and more particularly tomachines for grinding car wheels.

Heretofore, various machines have been devised l for the grinding of carwheels, in which the pair of car wheels assembled on their axle may besimultaneously ground. Numerous features have been incorporated in suchmachines, which handicapped the operator in securing the maximumproduction on the machine. In such a machine, itis necessary to engageand drive the axle from between the wheels by means of an annular.

driving gear. In the previous machines, a removable segment of the gearhas been provided to permit the operator to drop the axle of the carwheel assembly into place and then close the open end of the U-shapedaperture by means of the removable gear segment. This constructionnecessitated a delay in removing the nish ground shaft from the machineand also in inserting a new car wheel assembly for grinding. 'Ihepresent invention is intended as a distinct improvement over such priorconstructions as shown in the patent to Norton No. 869,194 dated October22, 1907.

It is the primary object of this invention to overcome this diiculty andto provide a driving gear and rotating mechanism which is so arrangedthat it is not necessary to provide a removable gear segment to obtainrotation of the Work during grinding.

In prior constructions, such as shown in the prior Norton patent abovereferred to, no provision is made for adjusting the axis of the carwheel axle so as to take care of car wheel assemblies having diierentsizes of journals so that the axis of the axle may be adjusted tocoincide with the axis of rotation of the driving mechamsm. f

It is a further object of this invention to provide a suitable worksupporting mechanism which is adjustable so that regardless of the sizeof the journals on the car wheel assembly, the axis of the axle may beadjusted to coincide with the axis of rotation of the driving member.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to one skilledin the art, this invention resides in the combination of parts set forthin the accompanying description and covered by the claims appendedhereto.

One embodiment of this invention has been illustrated in the drawing, inwhich likereference numerals indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the improved car wheel grinding machine,showing only the work rotating and supporting mechanism, with thegrinding wheels indicated in broken lines;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, on' an enlarged scale,taken approximately on lthe line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the workrotating .0 mechanism; v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale,taken approximately on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, showing one of the worksupporting members and its adjusting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation, on an enlarged scale, of one of thework supporting heads; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view through theright-hand end thrust member, as shown in Fig. 1.

In accordance with this invention, a car wheel grinding machine isprovided in which the peripheries of a pair of spaced car wheels,mounted on their supporting axle, are simultaneously ground. In amachine of this type, a pair of spaced car wheels assembled on theiraxle is inserted and supported, by the spaced journals at opposite endsof the axle, on a pair of spaced vertically adjustable V-shaped bearingshoes. B0 The axle is dropped within a substantially U- shaped aperturein a work driving and rotating gear, which is arranged to surround andengage a central portion of the axle between the car wheels.` A motordriven work driving mechanism k is provided, which is so constructed andarranged that the driven gear which is directly connected to rotate thecar Wheel assembly may be uniformly rotated without the necessity ofclosing the open end of the U-shaped aperture in the gear.

As illustrated in the drawing, the improved car wheel grinding machinecomprises a base 10 having a pair of grinding wheels 1l and 12 which aremounted on suitable wheel slides (not shown). These wheels slides aremounted for a longitudinal, as well as a transverse, movement to permita feeding, as well as a traversing, movement of the grinding wheelrelative to the car wheel being ground. The arrangement of the wheels isnot any part of the present invention and consequently, has not beenillustrated in detail. Only an indication of the grinding wheels withintheir respective positions relative to the work piece has beenindicated. For further disclosure as to the mounting and movement of thegrinding wheels, reference may be had to the patent to Norton No.869,194 dated October 22, 1907.

' Work supporting mechanism A car wheel assembly, comprising an axle 15,having car wheels 16 and 17 mounted adjacent opposite ends thereof andprovided with the journals 18 and 19, is mounted for rotation on spacedwork supporting members so that the periphery of the car wheels may beground as desired. As illustrated in the drawing, the work supportscomprise a pair of -spaced V-shaped members 20 and 21 whichare'supported by brackets 22 and 23 on the base 10.

In order that the bearing surfaces may be aligned with the surface beingsupported, the V-shaped work supports 20 and 21 are preferably pivotallymounted, as by trunnions 25 and 26, to vertically adjustable supportingmembers 27 and 28. It will be readily apparent from the foregoingdisclosure that when the car wheel assembly is placed in the machine,the journals 18 and 19 engaging the V-block supports 20 and 21 willcause the V-blocks 20 and 21 to rock and align their bearing surfaceswith the surface of the journals on the car axle.

Av car wheel grinding -machine of the type illustrated is particularlyadapted for regrinding or surfacing'of car wheels after they have beenin use, to eliminate a worn surface having flats and otherirregularities due to un-uniform wear. The journals 18 and 19 ofsuccessive car wheel assemblies vary in size, due to wear in use of theassembly and also to the amount of grinding which has heretofore takenplace. It is, therefore, desirable that a suitable adjusting mechanismbe provided to adjust the ends of the car axle vertically so that theaxle of the car wheel assembly may be moved, to coincide with the axisof the rotating driving member.

The supporting members 27 and 28 are provided with vertical guide rods30 and 31 which slide in apertures 32 and 33` in the brackets 22 and 23respectively. The guide rods serve to hold the members 27 and 28 inproper alignment. Suitable clamping devices, such as the clamping screws34, are provided to lock the guide rods 30 and 31 in xedposition withthe brackets 22 and 23 after the V-shaped bearing supports have beenadjusted.

The members 27 and 28 carry a depending screw threaded member 35 whichmeshes with a rotatable nut 36 supported in a portion 37 of the brackets22 and 23. The threaded bushing 36 is provided at its upper end with abevel gear 38 meshing with a bevel gear 39 on a shaft 40. The outer endof the shaft 40 is provided with a hand wheel 41. By turning the handwheel 41, the operator may raise or lower the work supporting members 20and 21, as desired.

To facilitate adjustment of the opposed spaced bearing members 20 and21, a suitable indicating device is provided so that the operator mayreadily adjust both of the V-shaped bearing supports to the same extent.The operator measures the size of the car ax\le journal and then adjuststhe V-shaped supporting members to the proper height so that the axis oftheaxle will coincide with the work rotating and driving member. Thispositioningmechanism may comprise a scale 42 which is xed to each of thesupports 27 and 28 and an indicating finger or arrow 43, which issupported on each of the brackets 22 and 23; It will be readilyappreciated from this construction that if the operator finds thejournals 18 and 19 are 6" in diameter, he may then adjust each of theV-shaped work supporting members 20 and 21 until 6 on the scale isopposite the indicator or arrow point 43, indicating that the V-shapedsupports are positioned to support a car wheel assembly having journalsof 6" diameter in proper relation with the work rotating and drivingmechanism.

ed on an axle, it is necessary that the axle be held against endwisemovement, since it is necessary to grind up to and adjacent the flangeon the car wheel. To prevent endwise movement of the axle 15, suitableanti-friction bearing members and 5l are mounted at opposite ends of thebase 10 and arranged to engage opposite ends of the axle 15. Theanti-friction bearing members 50 and 51 are supported on brackets 52 and53 respectively. The bearing member 51 is provided with a readilyaccessible adjusting screw 54 which may be turned by a hand wheel 55 andadjusted to position the car axle in proper condition for grindingwithout endwise movement. A screw 54 meshes with a thread in thelongitudinally movable spindle 56 which may be clamped in adjustedposition by means of a clamping screw 57. For further detail as to theconstruction and the operation of these anti-friction end thrustmembers, reference may be had to the prior patent to Norton No. 869,194.

Work rotating and driving mechanism In grinding work of this type, it isnecessary that the work be driven by the center portion of the axle 15between the car wheels 16 and 17. As illustrated in the drawing, thisdriving mechanism may comprise a supporting frame 60 carrying a hollowspindle 61 which is held in place by the partial cylindrical caps 62 and63. The spindle carries at its right-hand end, as viewed in Fig. 1, adriving gear 64 which is flxedly mounted on the spindle. The gear andthe spindle are provided with a substantially U-shaped slot or aperture65 which extends from the periphery of the gear and spindle to thecenter of the same so that, as shown in Fig. 2, the car axle 15 may bereadily dropped into position with its axis coinciding with the axis ofthe driving spindle and gear. The driving gear 64 is provided with aplurality of spaced brackets 66, each ofk which carries a clamping screw67, which are equally spaced to engage the axle 15 and transmit rotarymotion of the driving gear 64 so as to rotate the axle '15 and the carwheels 16 and 17 during the grinding operation.

To attain one of the objects of this invention, namely, to provide anopen driving gear without the necessity of providing a removable gearsegment to close the periphery of the gap, a pair of spaced drivingpinions and 71 is mounted on the shafts 72 and 73 respectively. Theshafts 72 and 73 carry driving gears 74 and .75 which mesh with a singledriving pinion 76 on a shaft 77. The shaft 77 carries a worm gear 78meshing with a worm 79 on a drive shaft 80. The outer end of the shaft80 is provided with a stepped cone pulley 81 which is connected by adriving belt 82 with an electric motor 83. The pulley drive is providedto permit a change of the work speed when desired. The spacing of thepinions 70 and 71 is such that one of the pinions is always in mesh withthe driven gear 64 so that when the U-shaped gap turns so that the gearteeth of one gear run out of mesh with one of the driving pinions, theother driving pinion is in mesh and continues a uniform rotation of thegear 64. Then, before the U-shaped slot turns so that the teeth of thesecond driving gear run out of mesh, the first gear again meshes andcontinues the rotation. This driving arrangement eliminates-thenecessity of providing a gear segment to close the U-shaped gap, therebysaving the loss of time necessitated by inserting and removing a gearsegment so as to increase the eiiciency of the machine.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A car wheel grinding machine comprising a supporting and rotatingdevice for a car wheel assembly, having a pair of car Wheels and anaxle, including a pair of spaced V-shaped shoes arranged to engage andsupport the periphery of journals at opposite ends of the Acar Wheelaxle, a pair of yoked supports for said shoes, and trunnions arrangedtransversely on each of the supports and carrying said shoes which arearranged to align the shoes with the car axlejournal longitudinallyrelative to the axis of the axle.

2. A car wheel grinding machine comprising a supporting and rotatingdevice for a car wheel assembly, having a pair of car wheels and anaxle,

-including a pair of spaced V-shaped Work supy porting shoes arranged toengage and support the periphery` of journals at the opposite ends ofthe car wheel axle, spaced yoked supports for said shoes, trunnions onsaid supports arranged transversely relative to the axis of said axleand carrying said shoes whichare arranged to align the shoeslongitudinally with the work periphery, and means to adjust saidsupports vertically to accommodate different diameters of journals sothat the car wheel axle may be aligned with the axis of said drivingmember.

3. A car wheel grinding machine comprising a supporting and rotatingdevice for a car wheel assembly, having a pair of car wheels and anaxle, including a pair of spaced members arranged to engage and supportythe periphery of journals at opposite ends of the car wheel axle, meansincluding a driving gear to rotate the cai' wheel axle about the gearaxis, and means yincluding an indicator associated with each of saidmembers to adjust the members vertically, said indicators serving forsetting the position of the work supports soas to align the axis of thecar wheel with the axis of the driving gear.

4. A car wheel grinding machine comprising a supporting and rotatingdevice for a car wheel assembly, axle, including a pair of spacedmembers arranged to engage and support the periphery of the journals atopposite ends of the car wheel axle, means including a rotatable drivinggear which surrounds the car wheel axle at a point intermediate its endand has a substantially U-shaped work receiving aperture extending fromits periphery to its center, means to adjust said members vertically toalign the axis of the axle with the axis of said gear, clamping meanscarried by said gear which is arranged to engage the periphery of thecar wheel axle to rotate the same, a pair of spaced driving pinionsmeshing with said gears to rotate the gear and the* work, and a drivingmechanism including a single driver which rotates both of said pinionsin synohronism, said pinions being spaced so as to span the aperture inthe periphery of said gear to rotate the same continuously.

CHARLES r'r. NORTON. CARL G. FLYGARE.

having a pair of car wheels and an etV

